As wireless networks evolve and grow, there are ongoing challenges in providing high-quality service to increasing numbers of wireless devices or user equipment (UE) in various coverage areas of a wireless network. For example, beamforming is a transmission mode that is used to provide better coverage to wireless devices in specific locations within a coverage area of a cell or access node. A beamforming downlink transmission mode uses multiple antennae to direct or “steer” signals from the antennae towards a particular wireless device located at, for instance, a cell edge. Multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) is another transmission mode whereby two wireless devices are paired based on their ability to share the same set of resource blocks, such that parallel streams are transmitted to and from both wireless devices. Both beamforming and MU-MIMO require the use of multiple antennae, with any performance gains being proportional to a number of antennae deployed by a specific cell or access node. Thus, simultaneously using both transmission modes reduces the relative gains for each transmission mode.